During the Lenten season of healing, one of the things we learned is that people were joyous and happy after they were healed. They often could not keep quiet and would go off "dancing and leaping and praising God." As we head towards Pentecost, we're going to carry forward the joy of the resurrection by connecting with each other through dance and music.
During the pandemic in February 2020, Fenómenos do Semba, a group in Angola, south-west Africa, recorded themselves dancing to the song "Jerusalema" while eating and without dropping their plates. "Jerusalema" is in the Zulu language and is by South African DJ and musician Master KG. This dance went viral on the internet and inspired a worldwide Jerusalema Dance Challenge, as more and more people uploaded their own dance videos. The dance is simple to learn and we would like everyone to learn the dance with their families and friends, record themselves dancing to it and email the video to Beth Astarte at ba@bethelbeaverton.org.
There will be opportunities to gather on the south lawn at Bethel and do the dance in a group if you live on your own (socially distanced and masked) or would like to do it in a group. If you can't dance, we will have other options so you, too, can still participate!
Don't worry - you've got time to have some fun and learn this dance. All videos must be in no later than Sunday, May 16, and then a compilation of Betheleans dancing separately, yet together, will be shared on Pentecost as a celebration of the Holy Spirit moving in all of us!
Here's a couple of videos to learn the steps. You can use either of these dance tutorials. They are slightly different but we want you to add your unique spin to the dance. https://youtu.be/6efHtpJK-Ns or https://youtu.be/YtuVWAQzGtE
This is the version of the song that we will be using: https://youtu.be/3JCJskzryKc
Contact Beth Astarte with any questions at ba@bethelbeaverton.org.